Cassius. No, Cæsar hath it not; but you, and I,
And honest Casca, we have the falling-sickness.
255Casca. I know not what you mean by that, but I am sure Cæsar fell down. If the tag-rag people[160] did not clap him and hiss him, according as he pleas'd and displeas'd them, as they use to do the players in the theatre, I am no true[161] man.
260Brutus. What said he when he came unto himself?
Casca. Marry,[162] before he fell down, when he perceiv'd the common herd was glad he refus'd the crown, he pluck'd me[163] ope his doublet[164] and offer'd them his throat to cut. And[165][166] I had been a man of any occupation,[167] if I would not have 265taken him at a word, I would I might go to hell among the rogues.[168] And so he fell. When he came to himself again, he said, if he had done or said any thing amiss, he desir'd their worships to think it was his infirmity.[169] Three or four wenches, where I stood, cried, 'Alas, good soul!' and forgave 270him with all their hearts. But there's no[170] heed to be taken of them: if Cæsar had stabb'd their mothers, they would have done no less.
Brutus. And after that, he came, thus sad, away?[171]
Casca. Ay.
275Cassius. Did Cicero say any thing?
Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek.[172]
Cassius. To what effect?
Casca. Nay, and[173] I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i' the face again: but those that understood him smil'd at one 280another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me. [174] I could tell you more news too: Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs off Cæsar's images, are put to silence. Fare you well. There was more foolery yet, if I could remember it.
285Cassius. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca?
Casca. No, I am promis'd forth.[175]
Cassius. Will you dine with me to-morrow?
Casca. Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold, and your dinner worth the eating.
290Cassius. Good; I will expect you.
Casca. Do so: farewell, both.
[Exit]
Brutus. What a blunt[176] fellow is this grown to be!
He was quick mettle[177] when he went to school.
Cassius. So is he now, in execution
295Of any bold or noble enterprise,
However[178] he puts on this tardy form.[179]
This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit,
Which gives men stomach to digest[180] his words
With better appetite.[181]
300Brutus.[182] And so it is. For this time I will leave you:
To-morrow, if you please to speak with me,
I will come home to you; or, if you will,
Come home to me, and I will wait for you.
Cassius. I will do so: till then, think of the world.
[Exit Brutus]
305Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet, I see,
Thy honourable metal[183] may be wrought
From that it is dispos'd:[184] therefore it is meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes;
For who so firm that cannot be seduc'd?
310Cæsar doth bear me hard,[185] but he loves Brutus:
If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius,
He should not humour[186] me. I will this night,
In several hands,[187] in at his windows throw,
As if they came from several citizens,
315Writings, all tending to the great opinion
That Rome holds of his name; wherein obscurely
Cæsar's ambition shall be glanced at:
And after this let Cæsar seat him sure;
For we will shake him, or worse days endure.[188]
[Exit]
I. 3 Scene III.[189][190] The same. A street
Thunder and lightning. Enter,[191] from opposite sides, Casca, with his sword drawn, and Cicero
Cicero. Good even, Casca: brought[192] you Cæsar home?
Why are you breathless? and why stare you so?
Casca. Are you not mov'd, when all the sway of earth[193]
Shakes like a thing unfirm? O Cicero,
5I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds
Have riv'd the knotty oaks, and I have seen
Th' ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam,
To be exalted with the threatening clouds;
But never till to-night, never till now,
10Did I go through a tempest dropping fire.[194]
Either there is a civil strife in heaven,
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods,
Cicero. Why, saw you any thing more wonderful?[197]
15Casca. A common slave—you know[198] him well by sight—
Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn
Like twenty torches join'd, and yet his hand,
Not sensible of fire, remain'd unscorch'd.
Besides—I ha' not since put up my sword—
20Against the Capitol I met a lion,
Who[199] glaz'd[200][201] upon me and went surly[202] by
Without annoying me: and there were drawn
Upon a heap[203] a hundred ghastly women,
Transformed with their fear, who swore they saw
25Men all in fire walk up and down the streets.
And yesterday the bird of night[204] did sit
Even at noon-day upon the market-place,
Hooting[205] and shrieking. When these prodigies
Do so conjointly meet, let not men say,
30'These[206] are their reasons; they are natural;'
For, I believe, they are portentous things
Unto the climate[207] that they point upon.
Cicero. Indeed, it is a strange-disposed time:
But men may construe things after their fashion,
35Clean[208] from the purpose of the things themselves.
Comes Cæsar to[209] the Capitol to-morrow?
Casca. He doth; for he did bid Antonius
Send word to you he would be there to-morrow.
Cicero. Good night then, Casca: this disturbed sky
40Is not to walk in.
Enter Cassius
Cassius. Who's there?
Casca.
A Roman.
Cassius.
Casca, by your voice.
Cassius. A very pleasing night to honest men.
Casca. Who ever knew the heavens menace so?
45Cassius. Those that have known the earth so full of faults.
For my part, I have walk'd about the streets,
Submitting me unto the perilous night,
And thus unbraced,[214] Casca, as you see,
Have bar'd my bosom to the thunder-stone:[215]
50And when the cross[216] blue[217] lightning seem'd to open
The breast of heaven, I did present myself
Even in the aim and very flash of it.
Casca. But wherefore did you so much tempt the heavens?
It is the part of men to fear and tremble
55When the most mighty gods by tokens send
Such dreadful heralds to astonish us.
Cassius.[218] You are dull, Casca; and those sparks of life
That should be in a Roman you do want,
Or else you use not. You look pale and gaze
60And put on fear and cast yourself in[219] wonder,
To see the strange impatience of the heavens:
But if you would consider the true cause
Why[220] all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts,
Why birds and beasts from quality and kind,[221]
65Why old men, fools, and[222][223] children calculate;
Why all these things change from their ordinance,
Their natures and preformed[224] faculties,
To monstrous quality, why, you shall find
That heaven hath infus'd them with these spirits,
70To make them instruments of fear and warning
Unto some monstrous state.[225]
Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man
Most like this dreadful night,
That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars[226]
75As doth the lion in the Capitol,[227]
A man no mightier than thyself or me
In personal action, yet prodigious[228] grown,
And fearful, as these strange eruptions are.
Casca.[229] 'Tis Cæsar that you mean, is it not, Cassius?
80Cassius. Let it be who it is;[230] for Romans now
Have thews[231][232] and limbs like to their ancestors;
But, woe the while! our fathers' minds are dead,
And we are govern'd with[233] our mothers' spirits;
85Casca. Indeed, they say the senators to-morrow
Mean to establish Cæsar as a king;
And he shall wear his crown by sea and land,
In every place save here in Italy.
Cassius. I know where I will wear this dagger then;
90Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius.
Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong;
Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat:
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
95Can be retentive to the strength of spirit;[234]
But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself.
If I know this, know all the world besides,
That part of tyranny that I do bear
I can shake off at pleasure.
[Thunder still]
Cassius. And why should Cæsar be a tyrant then?
Poor man! I know he would not be a wolf,
105But that he sees the Romans are but sheep:
He were no lion, were not Romans hinds.
Those that with haste will make a mighty fire
Begin it with weak straws:[236] what trash is Rome,
What rubbish and what offal, when it serves
110For the base matter to illuminate
So vile a thing as Cæsar! But, O grief,
Where hast thou led me? I perhaps speak this
Before a willing bondman; then I know
My answer must be made. But I am arm'd,
115And dangers are to me indifferent.[237]
Casca. You speak to Casca, and to such a man
That is no fleering[238] tell-tale. Hold,[239] my hand:
Be factious[240] for redress of all these griefs,[241]
And I will set this foot of mine as far
As who goes farthest.
Cassius.
120There's a bargain made.
Now know you, Casca, I have mov'd already
Some certain of the noblest-minded Romans
To undergo[242] with me an enterprise
Of honourable-dangerous consequence;
125And I do know, by this[243] they stay for me
In Pompey's porch:[244] for now, this fearful night,
There is no stir or walking in the streets,
And the complexion of the element[245]
In favour's[246] like[247] the work we have in hand,
130Most bloody, fiery,[248] and most terrible.
Enter Cinna.
Casca. Stand close[249] awhile, for here comes one in haste.
Cassius. 'Tis Cinna; I do know him by his gait;[250]
He is a friend. Cinna, where haste you so?
Cinna. To find out you. Who's that? Metellus Cimber?
135Cassius. No, it is Casca; one incorporate[251]
To our attempts. Am I not stay'd for, Cinna?
Cinna.[252] I'm glad on't. What a fearful night is this!
Cassius. Am I not stay'd for? tell me.
Cassius. Be you content. Good Cinna, take this paper,
And look you lay it in the prætor's chair,[255]
Where Brutus may but find it;[256] and throw this
145In at his window; set this up with wax
Upon old Brutus' statue: all this done,
Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find us.
Cinna. All but Metellus Cimber; and he's gone
150To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie,
And so bestow these papers as you bade[259] me.
Cassius. That done, repair to Pompey's theatre.
[Exit Cinna]
Come, Casca, you and I will yet ere day
See Brutus at his house: three parts of him
155Is ours already, and the man entire
Upon the next encounter yields him ours.
Casca. O, he sits high in all the people's hearts;
And that which would appear offence in us,
His countenance,[260] like richest alchemy,[261]
160Will change to virtue and to worthiness.
Cassius. Him and his worth and our great need of him,
You have right well conceited.[262] Let us go,
For it is after midnight, and ere day
We will awake him and be sure of him.
[Exeunt]
ACT II
II. 1 Scene I. Rome. Brutus's orchard[1]
Enter Brutus[2]
Brutus. What,[3] Lucius, ho!
I cannot, by the progress of the stars,
Give guess how near to day. Lucius, I say!
I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly.
Enter Lucius
Lucius. Call'd you, my lord?
Brutus. Get me a taper in my study, Lucius:
When it is lighted, come and call me here.
Lucius. I will, my lord.
[Exit]
10Brutus. It must be by his death:[6] and, for my part,
I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
But for the general.[7] He would be crown'd:
How that might change his nature, there's the question.
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder,[8]
15And that craves wary walking. Crown him?—that;—[9]
And then, I grant, we put a sting in him,
That at his will he may do danger with.[10]
Th' abuse of greatness is when it disjoins
Remorse[11] from power; and, to speak truth of Cæsar,
20I have not known when his affections sway'd[12]
More than his reason. But 'tis a common proof,[13]
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber upward[14][15] turns his face;
But when he once attains the upmost round,
25He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees[16]
By which he did ascend. So Cæsar may;
Then, lest[17] he may, prevent.[18] And, since the quarrel[19]
Will bear no colour[20] for the thing he is,
30Fashion it thus; that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities;
And therefore think him as a serpent's egg
Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.[21]
Re-enter[22] Lucius
35Lucius. The taper burneth in your closet, sir.
Searching the window for a flint, I found
This paper, thus seal'd up; and I am sure
It did not lie there when I went to bed.
[Gives him the letter]
Lucius. I know not, sir.
Brutus. Look in the calendar, and bring me word.
Lucius. I will, sir.
[Exit]
Brutus. The exhalations[25] whizzing in the air
45Give so much light that I may read by them.
[Opens the letter and reads]
Brutus, thou sleep'st: awake, and see thyself.
Shall Rome, etc. Speak, strike, redress!
Brutus, thou sleep'st: awake![26]
Such instigations have been often dropp'd[27]
50Where I have took them up.[28]
'Shall Rome, etc.' Thus must I piece it out:
Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What, Rome?[29]
My ancestors[30] did from the streets of Rome
The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king.
55'Speak, strike, redress!' Am I entreated
To speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee[31] promise,
If the redress will follow, thou receivest
Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!
Re-enter[22] Lucius
[Knocking within]
60Brutus. 'T is good. Go to the gate; somebody knocks.
[Exit Lucius][34]
Since Cassius first did whet me against Cæsar,
I have not slept.
Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion,[35] all the interim is
65Like a phantasma[36] or a hideous dream:
The Genius[37] and the mortal instruments
Are then in council; and the state of a man,[38]
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.[39]
Re-enter[22] Lucius
70Lucius. Sir, 't is your brother[40] Cassius at the door,
Who doth desire to see you.
Brutus.
Is he alone?
Brutus.
Do you know them?
Lucius. No, sir; their hats[43] are pluck'd about their ears,
And half their faces buried in their cloaks,[44]
75That by no means I may discover them
By any mark of favour.[45]
Brutus.
Let 'em[46] enter.
[Exit Lucius][34]
They are the faction. O conspiracy,
Sham'st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night,
When evils[47] are most free? O, then, by day
80Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough
To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy;
Hide it in smiles and affability:
For if thou path,[48] thy[49] native semblance on,
Not Erebus[50] itself were dim enough
85To hide thee from prevention.[51]
Enter[52] the conspirators, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus Cimber, and Trebonius.